Amen-it is about time the GOP in Cherokee Cnty started showing some conservative leadership and getting control of the party by getting RINOS like Chapman, Read, Steiner & Wofford to start acting like conservatives, serve their constituency or get out of the party. This is great to see even though they are years late to the rescue, this type of action was needed when Radcliff & Puckett were acting the same way for years. RINOS are the biggest problem that the Cherokee Cnty GOP faces because the county is so conservative no one dares run on the Democratic platform if they want to have a chance to win the election. This creates a situation where the primary elections are the real battles and the toughest thing to do is to try and figure out who are the disingenuous RINOs running under the GOP affiliation with no intention to act and vote as true conservatives.

I applaud this move by the GOP, as due to this decision, it is a better day today in Cherokee Cnty in the effort to provide the taxpaying parent and children the educational choices and access to options they truly deserve. I also want to thank the Cherokee Cnty Tea Party movement. They have been right there battling with us parents & other School Choice advocates, in supporting School Choice initiatives here in Cherokee Cnty. The future is now much brighter with this decision and sets the stage for the '12 BOE open seats elections where Chapman and Read's seats are up and can be turned over to true conservatives.

@ "Real Deal". I wish I could have said it as eloquently as you have here. Those of us who stood up at the school board meetings to fight for choice in Cherokee County applaud Chairman Brian Laurens for this very clear statement. Finally! Bring on the elections.

It's about time! The CCSB is a bunch of gov't-loving liberals. It's a microcosm of why America's a dying country: We elect goofballs and liars who fail to represent as promised but instead pander to special interests. In this case, a bunch of phony Republicans bellied up to the trough of gov't at the earliest moment.

OUT WITH ALL OF 'EM!!

Thanks to people like Janet Read and Mike Chapman and Dr P and the dedicated public school teachers we have here, Cherokee County has some of the best schools in the southeast United States.

Amen Rod - ditto that !!!

Yea Scott, so great they didn't meet AYP and are one of the best schools in a state that ranks 48th in the nation. That's really something to brag about. That's like the Houston Astros playing the other worse team in baseball and bragging about winning when neither team will even make the playoffs.

All BOE members like Chapman, Read, Wofford, Steiner, Radcliff, and Puckett have given the taxpaying constituents of Cherokee County is arrogance, ignorance, an unwillingness to partner with parents, and overall unprofessionalism in delivering a solely traditional , big bureaucracy, NCLB, non-progressive one-size-fits all public education to the children of Cherokee County. They have literally forced it down the throats of the county and have made no bones about their lack of interest in wanting to provide progressive options that are needed and demanded by the new demographic of parents in Cherokee - those that value education highly and that want Magnet and STEM programs and Vocational Technical options.

@Scott - you're either a teacher, an employee of CCSD, or somebody with VERY low expectations and standards or have never lived outside the county and experienced education at its finest. Certain members of our past and present BOE have done nothing but held CCSD back from the success it can easily achieve. Thanks to the recent GOP resolution, in 2012, Mike Chapman, Janet Read, Rob Wofford and Rick Steiner will have the opportunity as Democrats or Independants to try and convince the voters that they have done a great job and served CCSD well. I wish them luck because I seriously doubt the voters will be as snowed as you are.

Hey Real Deal. How many kids do you have and where do they go to school? Have you noticed Etowah is a Georgia School of excellence and a National Blue Ribbon award school?

Success is never easliy achieved... Here is more about public schools in Cherokee. Just facts. Awards from the Governors Office.
Cherokee County Schools receiving recognition in the Highest Performance category include:
Bascomb ES- Gold
Creekview HS- Gold
Etowah HS- Gold
Sequoyah HS- Gold
Woodstock HS- Gold
Liberty ES- Bronze
Macedonia ES- Bronze
Sixes ES- Bronze
Freedom MS- Bronze
Cherokee HS- Bronze
It should be noted that all five traditional Cherokee County high schools received awards.

Just what we need, let's put partisian politics ahead of our children's education. There are 995 kids at the charter school. What about the rest? We should be working together to better the education for all, not put politics first. Do you what a repetition of what happened in Washington last week to happen here with our school system? I think not! The last I looked the school board did not run as democrat or republican, just people who want to do what is best for our children. These people should be supporting all our schools, not just the charter school.

@Scott - as I've mentioned before, GA ranks 47th to 49th (depending on the area you are looking at) nationwide - so saying that Cherokee County Schools win awards really provides no value. Elaine, I agree with you. The Charter School is a STEP in moving our county forward. In order to begin to fix the rest of the public schools, we MUST fix the BOE. 2012 provides an excellent opportunity to do this. We need to get rid of the Board members who are happy with things the way they are. The ones who keep asking for more money (SPLOST), but provide no measurable results. We need fresh blood, people willing to think outside the box.

@Nick-great comments about what must be focused on, and what must be done in changing the makeup of the BOE who does not want to do the right things and in some cases with certain members, they do not possess the professionalism and skillsets to lead as BOE members in providing progressive and doable solutions to fix public education overall in CCSD. Chapman, Read, Steiner and Wofford are big time defenders of the status quo, and in most all cases, they have showed their incapable of leading necessary change. Chapman can apologize for his comments all he wants, but they are a reflection of the man he is and what he believes in and how he plans to continue to lead and vote as a BOE member. He sealed his fate by showing his true colors - "the sound bite" that will see him off the board in 2012.

Just the facts:
Cherokee County School District's Class of 2010 Posts 22-Point Gain on SAT
Body The graduating class of 2010 for Cherokee County School District (CCSD) scored an average of 1582 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), surpassing the national average by 73 points and exceeding the state average by 129 points. The total average score reflects an increase of 22 points over CCSD scores from the class of 2009. All five traditional CCSD high schools scored in the top 15 percent of high schools in Georgia.
The SAT measures critical reading, mathematics and writing abilities that are related to successful academic performance in college. The highest possible score on the SAT is 2400, with each section having a possible perfect score of 800. For more detailed information, please see the attached memorandum from the Superintendent of Schools.

Real Deal...once again, your logic amazes me. If someone supports CCSD, he/she must be either a teacher or an administrator in CCSD. You can't even embrace the notion that there are intelligent, educated parents in Cherokee County who believe that the school system is, as a whole, serving our children and not having a vested financial interest (i.e. a CCSD job). Based upon your logic, YOU must be a CSUSA or CCA employee!

It seems as though you should go back to school and learn how to debate through reasoning not bullying.